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In Belialf of Applauding Thousands and. Amid \ Delicious Inspiriting Strains General
Sarnes Takes Over tlxe Magnificent USTe^w Bandstand in Golden
G-ate Park From Its Donor, Olaixs Spreokels.
AN A ARCHITECTURAL POEM SET TO MUSIC
DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF CALIFORNIA
CLAUS SPRECKELS.
GENERAL W. H. L. BARNES.
That the memorial should be placed in Gold
en Gate Park was a decision which required
no' long study to reach. This noble pleasure
ground will doubtles be the chief scene of the
cpen air festivities of the people of California
and indeed of the whole Pacific Coast for all
time to come. It already ranks among the fin
est parks in the world. It is the resort of
thousands. It Is the playground of the chil
dren, the festal garden of youths and maidens,
the recreation of the worker," the solitude 01
the thinker, the .parade of wealth and fashion,
the object lesson of artists, and In many ways
It ministers to the studies of men of science.
dedicated to music rendered free to all and
under circumstances that would make it at
tractive to rich and poor alike. (Applause.)
•? " — T**" furnish thejn with
pleasures which recreate body and brain alike..
No other form,~of amusement : which, can -be
provided for large numbers surpasses music In
that respect, and accordingly I was easily de
termined that the purposed memorial should be
RECREATION FOR
BRAIN AND EODY
ALIKr.
In my native Germany I had early learned
the value «» well as the charm of music and
of architecture. I know how potent a benefit
It Is to a people to have the privilege of listen
ing under beautiful surroundings to the melo
dies and the harmonies which the master mu
sicians have developed out " ol their soaring
souls for the joy of the world.
'•; : -+ • I know that one
PcrttPATTOM FOR of the strongest
KbLKfcAHUiN fUK B afe K uards against
BRAIN AND EODY .the pleasures that
ALIK?. dissipate the ener
¦ gles of men Is to
IvOvinR California as I do, and being grateful
for the many benefits that have accrued to me
during the earnest and active life I have lived
here, I have desired to manifest those feelings
in some monumental structure which would
stand as a memorial of my citizenship among
you. ¦ In deciding to erect that memorial In the
form It has taken. I was moved by a desire
to make it a source of the highest pleasure and
good to the largest number of people possible.
(Applause.)
It !s a gratification to me to know that Cal
ifornia, so kind to me. Is kind and generous to
all. Differences of fortune exist In all parts of
the world, but each class of workers Is better
off in California than anywhere else on earth.
Our workingnien have the best homes and the
hlRhest wages in proportion to their skill that
are possessed by workers anywhere, and It Is
an Invariable rulo that where wase-earnrrs are
most prosperous 1 and have most opportunities
to advance !n fortune, education and culture,
there every grade of society Is most prosper
ous, best r.nd happiest.
CALIFORNIA
IS KIND AND
G5N.ROU5TOALL.
'had occasion to + j ¦ ?•
regret the choice. I have never wished for
any other home nor lonfted for anything on
earth that California could not give. Recently
I went abroad with the Intention 'of remaining
a year. You cee I have returned before the
time I had fixed upon. My heart was here
with my home and my home friends, . and
nothing that Kurnne or the Kastern States
could furnish was sufficient to charm away the
desire to get back to the land I love. (Ap
plause.)
fornla as my
home, and I have
never In all the
years that have
passed since then
I cair.e to California by reason of the good
reports I had heard of It in other lunds.
When I came and learned the full worth of the
land and its people I found the cood reports
had not told half the tale.
I adopted Cali- a 4.
opportunities she offers with a fair degree of
sagacitv. will not fail to find an ample reward
for all work of hand and head and heart.
Mcrcmer that reward will come not In ma
terial things only but in the thousand kindly
and Rracimis acts by which true friends make
this life worth the lhir.sr.
HUNDRED PIECES OF BRASS STIR FIRST ECHOES
in the Pavilion,
From Their Home
c* th« mind responsive to those senses win find
a Joy In the work.
To your hands. General Barnes. a3 a repre
sentative of tjie people of California. I commit
the gift. My wish Is that the pavilion ar.-l the
music which will flow forth rrom it may be
incentives to artistic aspirations among all the
people of California, and help them to find
that happiness which humanity Is to attain tn
this golden land in a more abundant degree
than in any other under the whole heavens.
As Mr. Spreckels finished he grasped
General Barnes' hand and shook it cor
dially. Barnes then accepted the bulld
lne in behalf of the citizens of San,
Francisco and the Park Commissioners.
He said:
My Fellow Citizens: This Immense concour»«»
demonstrates the deep interest which the peo
ple whom I have the distinguished honor to
represent to-day take !n the completion
and dedication of this architectural tri
umph of the Reid Bros., rendered pos
sible through the generosity of Mr. Claus
Spreckels. who may be Justly denominated the
foremost living citizen of California. For him
self and for the State his has been a most for
tunate career* net so fortunate, perhaps, as it
is rather the natural result of rare executive
ability and absolute Integrity In affairs, of In
domitable force cf will in the undertaking ar.d
triumphant completion of commercial enter
prises which have benefited the pecple far moT«
than they have enriched him. The gigantic
Industries which have been developed by this
good citizen have for many years furnished
homes and maintenance to more human beings
than those of any other Individual or Indeed of
any aggregation of capital In this State.
The great refineries erected and operated by
him. the railway transportation provided by
his efforts, the construction of public utilities
of power and light, the productive farms which
have made fertile so many thousands of acres
and heaped so many millions of tons of the
saccharine beet about his monster factories of
sugar, to say nothing of the substantial and
beautiful structures with which he has orna
mented our chief city and given employment tr>
every mechanical trade, demonstrate his public
spirit and entitle him to the full measure of
affection and respect which the people la whose
behalf I speak entertain for him.
That to-day has been selected to devote this
temple of music to the perpetual use of the
people la especially felicitous. It connects it
with an historical epoch In the life of. the
commonwealth which marks its semi-centennial
with the pride of an exultant population, re
joicing In the review of a past, munlfleent In
progress and illuminated by the prophecy of
acquisitions of wealth and civic power which
bewilders contemplation ana stretches tram, til*
SCENE BEFORE THE NEW BAND STAND AT THE DEDICATION.
SEATING CAPACITY FOR TWENTY THOUSAND
Not Half Enough
for the Crowds.
WITH Beyenty-flve thousand peo
ple bending their heads to
listen, the first melody welled
from the new band stand in
the Park, and, borne on the
wJrig^s of the west wind,
thrilled the a'r of Concert Valley. It was
the dedication of the plare, and the
stately pile of gTay sandstone, to music
and the people, and the first composition
played under Its arche?, aptly named
"Immortality." was dedicated to Claus
Sjirec-Uc-Js, the giver of the gift.
The peristyle is, as General Barnes
truthfully and br-autifully said, an archi
t-M-tural pot'm, set to music. It is beauti
ful In its pure simplicity, in the stateli
r.« ss of its columns, and in its graceful
scheme and outline. And it is wonderful,
too. from the purity of its aeou-stics, for
the s; ; h of the flute !s Bent down the val
!*-y <-:<:ht and distinct as the trumpet's
b1?r«- that follows. Its location is partly
responsible for this, for in from the ocean
th" brtczen come, <ri£i> and cold, and thoy
; 'i.:;; ir.> : notes alone as if they loved
thrn. ar.d Frnd them playing among the
trees and alons the slopes that form this
V' r'.ru:,lo triumph of harmony.
Thf> throat court In front has been care
fully luinr-d. and a profusion of shrubbery
ar.d trees add picturesQue-noss to the
Hccnc. Tha bluish pray tint of the stone
of which th<> structure Js built brings out
boldly fiom the dark-foliapcd background
th. artistic work of the bu'Ioer.
F^uts were provided for 29,000 peo
!>!'-. which, on ordinary occasions, would
more than answer all n*»eds. Vet yester
fiaVx great crowd tva only overtaxed
tf:js Immense capacity, but the
torr3<-e<i grounds along the outer
boundaries of the court were black with
humanity.
The orchertra platform has an ex-
width of « feet and will accommo
date 100 musicians, which number were
there yextrrdar. As Mr. Spreckels and
General W. H. I,. Barnes stepped into the
music stand there was a spontaneous out
burst <!f appluuee from the vast multi
tude. Mr. Bpreckels bowed and then be-
gan his presentation speech. He was fre
quently interrupted by vigorous hand
clapping. Mr. Spreckels said:
My Fellow Cltitzer.s: By a good fortune In
which you will all Join with me In rejoicing,
the completion cf this structure and the oc
casion of Its formal gift to the people come
at a time when thousands from all parts of
tlie commonwealth are thronging to San Fran
cisco to celebrate the fiftieth aniversury of the
admission of California to Btntrhood in the
Union. We must all of us be well pleased that
It has happened so; for the structure Is de
glgnrd not for the city only, but for all Cal
ifornia, and It Is therefore rlcht and fitting
that Its dedication should take place under cir
cumstances which make It not a civic holiday
only, but a part of a great State festival.
California has been for fifty years a State
of the American Union, and I have been for
nearly fifty • yeara a citizen of California. I
was rnnone those who cam* in early manhood
to take part in the development of the rich re
sources of this golden land and to lay the
foundations upon which the fabric of her pros-
Parity rests. Whatever may have bt-en the ex
perience of others, my labors In California
have been abundantly rewarded. This has
been no nig-gard land to me. I have found
Its people as generous as the soil, ajid society
here as rich in human virtues as are the
mountains with gold. My experience has been
that whosoever works in California with the
honesty of a true Industry, and who meets the
It Is right for me to give due praise here to
the architects who have fashioned the noble
proportions of the structure, and to the arti
sans whose skill has carrted out all that I
have planned and the artist designed. The
architecture has been conceived In harmony to
the use for which the structure is Intended
and to the magnificent landscape of park and
mountain* that surround it. It pleases the
eye as music pleases the ear, and ever}- faculty
Here, then, where all gather. It Is proper that
the music which charms them should be pro
vided with a stately and noble pavilion. Thus
the plan for the edifice grew in my mind and
purpose; and now I have the gladness to look
upon the completed work and to transfer It
to the people of California. (Applause.)
SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1900.
PRICE FIVE CENTS.
VOLUME L.XXXVIII— NO. 102.
The San Francisco Call.